He now obtained what he had asked in vain in the preceding
year--the delivery into English hands of all Scottish strongholds (June,
1291). Edward delayed his decision till the 17th November, 1292, when,
after much disputation regarding legal precedents, and many
consultations with Scottish commissioners and the English Parliament, he
finally adjudged the crown to John Balliol. It cannot be argued that the
decision was unfair; but Edward was fortunate in finding that the
candidate whose hereditary claim was strongest was also the man most
fitted to occupy the position of a vassal king. The new monarch made a
full and indisputable acknowledgment of his position as Edward's liege,
and the great seal of the kingdom of Scotland was publicly destroyed in
token of the position of vassalage in which the country now stood. Of
what followed it is difficult to speak with any certainty. Balliol
occupied the throne for three and a half years, and was engaged, during
the whole of that period, in disputes with his superior. The details
need not detain us. Edward claimed to be final judge in all Scottish
cases; he summoned Balliol to his court to plead against one of the
Scottish king's own vassals, and to receive instructions with regard to
the raising of money for Edward's needs. It may fairly be said that
Edward's treatment of Balliol does give grounds for the view of Scottish
historians that the English king was determined, from the first, to goad
his wretched vassal into rebellion in order to give him an opportunity
of absorbing the country in his English kingdom.
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